Chicago-based real estate investment firm L3 Capital has closed on the purchase of a mixed-use buidling at 862 Broadway in the Flatiron District, from shoe store David Z., for $11 million, according to a deed filed with the city this past Friday.

As The Real Deal previously reported, the four-story building was originally put on the market by David Z. for $12 million in 2010. Built in 1900 and completely renovated in 2004, the 5,100-square-foot walk-up building has 11,682 square feet of additional air rights, plus a basement. A store on the first floor is occupied by the GEOX footwear company. Retail space on the second floor is occupied by the Boston-based Prana yoga, and there are residential loft apartments on the third and fourth floors.

David Zaken, owner and founder of David Z., did not immediately respond to a request for comment though his assistant did confirm the sale.

Ariel Tirosh, vice president and associate broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman, represented the seller in the transaction. Christopher Korey of Christopher Korey Private Realty represented L3 Capital. [more]

A rendering of the interior of the new Van Alen Books slated for 30 West 22nd Street

Among those people who take a heated interest in such matters, it was a source of no small
sadness when Urban Center Books, the best — and only — New York bookstore devoted exclusively
architecture and urbanism, shut its doors a year ago. One would like to think that New York City,
which probably has more architects and urban planners, not to mention more buildings, than any
other metropolis in America, if not the world, would be able to sustain a bookstore devoted to this
vital area of interest. [more]

Gramercy-Flatiron ranked number one on the top-10 list of New York neighborhoods that are best for singles, compiled by the Daily News, based on nightlife, population of young people, income, crime and affordability. In Gramercy-Flatiron, home to 34,000 people, the median house price is $525,000, and the area “has everything a single person could want,” if you can afford it, according to the Daily News. More than 73 percent of the people rent and over 75 percent of the population is single. Its location is also a draw. [more]

Last Wednesday, Bond New York held a party to celebrate the opening of
their new offices at 64 West 21st Street. The three-floor townhouse,
which features a deck area and backyard space, is the company’s sixth
Manhattan location and will house its new commercial sales and leasing
division. The celebrations included a tour of Bond’s new digs and
karaoke in the empty basement, which will eventually serve as a
conference room. TRD

[more]

Bond’s Bruno Ricciotti and 64 W. 21st St.

Bond New York is taking over at least one of the offices previously occupied by Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy, and may lease another one as well. The residential brokerage signed a lease yesterday for three floors in a townhouse in the Flatiron District at 64 West 21st Street, a space occupied by CBHK until the company closed in May. The 2,500-square-foot space, located between Fifth and Sixth avenues, has a deck and backyard and fits 35 desks, according to Bruno Ricciotti, a principal at Bond New York. [more]